Reminder that this is the chapter with some slight rudeness about sexuality. Also, yes. I know the quinjet is from Marvel. Now that that's out of the way...

Joshua approached the prime minister and the quinjet he had brought for them with his arms crossed. His mission squad stood behind him, all dressed in similar outfits. They were black, fitted, and long sleeved. They all were clad in thick combat boots, but each outfit was catered to the individual. Adam had a visor for his eyes, Chris had gun holsters, Lana had fingerless gloves, and Max's costume was made of a material that could stretch for his kitsune form. Janelle, Joshua, Melanie, and Dallon didn't need any special additions, however Josh had a red streak across his chest to honor Tyler. His receptor was in and he had no intentions of taking it out.

"You made the smart choice," Shinzo sneered.

Tyler let out a sound that closely resembled a growl. "Fuck you. We're not doing this for you and you know damn well that we don't give a shit about your empty ass threats."

The prime minister looked around. "Who - who was that? Which of you said that? Where did that come from?"

Joshua smirked, tapping the receptor in his temple lightly (although pain overtook his head) and letting out a condescending laugh. "Thanks for the quinjet, Abe." He turned to Chris. "Pilot first." Joshua waved his hand forward, allowing Chris to enter, load his motorcycle on, and sit in the pilot's seat. "Ladies." Janelle, Lana, and Melanie boarded next, followed by Max and Dallon. Only Josh and Abe remained on the ground.

"You better get it done," the prime minister instructed Josh firmly.

"Don't worry about us, we know what we're doing." With that, Joshua boarded the jet and Chris closed the door.

"Everyone needs their seatbelts on for liftoff," Chris said as he punched in the coordinates of their opponent's approximate location. Turbulence racked the quinjet as it lifted off the ground, but after about 30 seconds, they were smooth sailing. "Alright, guys, we're good. You can move around. We'll reach our destination in 25 minutes."

"That fast, sensei?" Dallon asked.

"This is a highly advanced piece of machinery," Chris said in reply.

Tyler let out a soft groan, causing Josh to perk up and look to him.

"What's wrong?"

"I... I don't know," Tyler responded. "I feel... heavy. Just really uncomfortable. Have you been drinking?"

"No, not since the party. I feel totally normal," Josh said with his eyes squinted.

"Have you ever felt like that before?" Janelle asked Tyler, her long hair pulled into a curly bun high on her head.

"No... could you... fuck, I hate to ask you for anything," Tyler sighed. He didn't want to seem weak, but in this moment, he was. "Touch Josh. Maybe someone's powers are affecting me. Touch him to reverse it."

Janelle did as she was asked, bringing her hands up to Joshua's face and neck. "Did it help?"

"No," Tyler groaned again, sounding frustrated. "I don't like this feeling. I feel... strange. Older, somehow."

"Older?" Lana asked, intrigued by the conversation.

"Yeah, significantly older. Like I just went from being 25 to 50."

"Do you think you'll be able to fight today?" Josh asked worriedly.

Tyler scoffed. "Of course I'll be able to fight. Have you seen me? I'm fucking amazing."

"And humble too," Max added sarcastically.

"Shut it, furry. When you grow nine tails, do you get nine extra assholes too?"

Chris choked on his own spit in laughter as Max shook his head in complete awe of Tyler's clapback. Janelle only smiled, her perfect lips pursing as she sat back in her spot.

Melanie, who had been sitting next to Dallon, stood from her seat in favor of claiming the seat next to her sensei. "Hey, sensei, can we-"

"What the fuck?" Tyler asked abruptly, startling Melanie and causing her to stand upright.

"What?"

"You almost sat on me!"

"I'm sorry," Melanie said through a giggle. Joshua watched as Tyler stood, moving to sit across a table, grumbling little curses as he went. "Did he - did he move?"

"Yeah," Josh said with a grin. "What's up?"

"I'm not sure," Melanie asked, sitting. "You tell me."

Joshua's eyes narrowed at her uptight tone. "Excuse me?"

"Forgive me, sensei," she said quickly, amending for her attitude. "I just - well, you haven't been speaking to me for the past few days. I thought you were upset with me."

"I was training, and so were you. You know that, Mel-chan. Why would I be upset with you?"

"Well... I don't know. I just thought..." Melanie trailed off as Joshua's brow lowered. It wasn't like her to assume things like that. She looked up at him, and by seeing his face, she knew that he was close to piecing out the truth. She drew in a breath, figuring it to be better for her to just tell the truth now than to be punished later. "Dallon told me that you might be mad at me."

Joshua seethed. "And you believed him? He had no clue what he was talking about."

"He said you used words he couldn't understand and that you sounded upset when he mentioned me," Melanie added softly, sounding like she was either about to cry or break something.

"Did he tell you why I did that? Did he even tell you what he asked?" In his rage, Joshua couldn't tell how loud he was speaking... or that everyone on the quinjet was listening to their conversation. "He asked if we were sleeping together. I think I had the right to be pissed."

"Calm down, dickhead," Tyler eventually deadpanned. "You've got an audience."

It was only then that Josh and Melanie looked up, greeted by many wide eyes, including Dallon's guilty looking ones. Rather than ceasing the conversation, Melanie continued it.

"Why would you ask him that?" She asked so quietly it was scary.

"Look, Mel-"

"You know what? Nevermind! I thought you were being genuinely nice to me because you liked me as a friend and instead you've been trying to get into my pants this whole time! That's fucked up, Dallon!" Melanie stood, walking toward the boy. She flexed her fingers as if she was about to use her powers.

"Baita! Nagomu! (Bitch! Calm down!)" Tyler exclaimed, and somehow, rather than coming out aggressive or disrespectful, it sounded more like an earnest attempt to calm the girl. Tyler had called her a baita so often that she knew what the word meant, but nagomu was foreign to her. Even so, the tone of his voice itself was enough to cause her to gently tuck her fingers into a lazy fist, draw in a breath, and reclaim her seat next to her sensei. Josh put his arm around her, and she dropped her head onto his shoulder. After a moment, she reevaluated it, choosing instead to clamber into his lap with her knees tucked under her chin and her head pressed against his warm chest. Joshua wasn't stupefied by her action and quickly wrapped both arms around her, locking her into his protective embrace.

Dallon, who watched their entire endeavor, let out a noise of frustration. "Can you fucking blame me? Look at you two!"

"Kōhai (Student/Junior)," Chris said warningly.

"Listen to your sensei, kid," Josh added. "Leave it alone."

"No! It was a valid question!"

Tyler stood from his seat on the table, and Josh noticed that his red eyes appeared more furious than always. "He said leave it alone."

Dallon turned toward Tyler. Although he couldn't see him, he had been able to follow Joshua's eyes to find his approximate location. "Well, look at Mr. I Don't Give A Shit About Anyone! What's changed? Why do you care so much right now?" He paused for a moment. "Don't tell me you're fucking gay for each other."

"Dallon, that's enough," Janelle said, her eyes wide and offended.

"I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, my brother's a queer, I'm just saying," Dallon replied flippantly. "If you're gay you should have just said that."

Josh's lips were pressed into a thin line as Chris spoke up. "That's still not something you should have said like that. It's rude."

"It's not rude if it's true," Dallon retorted.

"Kōhai!" Chris finally yelled, causing a silence to wash over the plane again. This time, Dallon sat back down, looking at his phone.

Josh looked at Tyler who was still standing up. The two caught eyes, and Josh sent a nod of gratitude Tyler's way, which he accepted with an upturn of the corners of his mouth. Melanie shifted in Joshua's arms and locked her huge eyes onto his dark brown ones.

"Don't worry about him," she whispered, to which Joshua replied with a soft sound of assent. "You know, it's okay to be gay. If you are, you can just tell me."

"Mel-kun, I just don't know. I don't think it matters either. I'm the same person regardless of my sexuality. Just drop it for now, okay? We have bigger things to worry about."